Method for printing vinyl flooring with water based ink composition

ABSTRACT

A method for printing a decorative design on the surface of a vinyl material such as sheet vinyl flooring using a water based ink. The ink is a blend of acrylic and vinyl latexes and contains coalescing agent as well as surfactant and pigment.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 712,086, filed Aug. 5, 1976,now U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,878.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Water based inks are well known for use on a wide variety of substrates.Such inks are generally latex emulsion or dispersion systems, watersoluble resin systems or blends of the two systems. The water solubleresin systems are chiefly acrylics which are either thermosetting,thermoplastic or a blend of the two. Conventional water based inksinclude for instance latex systems as described in U.S. Pat. No.3,533,811 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In the printing of designs on sheet vinyl covering materials, especiallysheet vinyl flooring, it has previously been necessary to usehydrocarbon solvent based inks rather than water based inks to obtainsatisfactory adhesion and quality. The solvents used with such solventbased inks frequently involve materials such as ketones and aromatichydrocarbons which are considered hazardous and are subject to variousanti-pollution rules and regulations. Water based inks have in the pastbeen found to be unsatisfactory for use on vinyl plastics because ofproblems of adhesion and excessive mottle effect. These problems areespecially severe in the printing of designs on sheet vinyl flooringwhere both good adhesion and a minimum of mottle effects are desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a methodfor printing decorative designs on vinyl plastic materials such as sheetvinyl flooring using a water based ink composition.

The process of the invention involves the printing of a decorativedesign on the surface of a layer of gelled or fused vinyl plastic usinga water based ink composition which comprises the following ingredients:(a) a blend of acrylic latex and vinyl latex containing about between20% and about 40% acrylic latex based on such blend; (b) at least about5 wt % based on said latex blend of coalescing agent; (c) between about30 and about 80 wt % water based on total ink composition; (d) betweenabout 1 and about 5 wt % surfactant based on total ink composition; and(e) between about 10 and about 50 wt % pigment based on solids in theink composition.

The water based printing ink compositions of the invention comprise ablend of acrylic latex and vinyl latex, such blend containing betweenabout 20% and about 40% acrylic latex. The composition also includes atleast about 5 weight percent (wt. %) based on the latex blend ofcoalescing agent, between about 1 and about 5 wt % surfactant based ontotal ink composition, between about 10 and about 50 wt % pigment basedon total ink composition and between about 30 and about 80 wt % waterbased on the total ink composition. In preferred embodiments of theinvention the surfactant comprises trimethylnonyl polyethylene glycolether (TMN) and the coalescing agent comprises Butyl Cellosolve,trademark for ethylene glycol monobutyl ether. The method of theinvention involves printing a decorative design on the surface of alayer of gelled or fused vinyl plastic, preferably fused polyvinylchloride (PVC) plastisol or organosol, using the ink compositions of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As mentioned above, the ink composition of the invention basicallycomprises a blend of acrylic and vinyl latexes with vinyl latexcomprising between about 20 and about 40% of the blend. The inkcomposition also contains at least about 5 wt percent based on latexblend of coalescing agent, between about 1 and about 5 wt % surfactantbased on total composition, between about 10 and about 50 wt % pigmentbased on total composition and between about 30 and about 80 wt % waterbased on total composition.

Vinyl and acrylic latexes suitable for use in ink compositions of theinvention include many of the latexes known for use in water based inkssuch as those described in the above mentioned U.S. Patent.

As mentioned above, the latex blend used in forming ink compositions ofthe invention should comprise between about 20 and about 40% acryliclatex (dry basis) based on latex blend with the remaining 60-80 wt %being vinyl latex. Preferred proportions, especially where relativelylarger amounts of pigment are used, include blends wherein the acryliclatex content is between about 20% and about 30% based on the latexblend. While the amount of water used in compositions of the inventionmay vary considerably, the compositions normally comprise between about30 and about 80 wt % water. A good deal of this water is, of course,present in aqueous solutions of the other ingredients of thecomposition. For instance, the latexes used in the compositions of theinvention are frequently present in aqueous solutions containing betweenabout 40 and about 60 wt % solids and the pigments used are frequentlypresent in aqueous compositions containing between about 15 and about 75wt % solid pigment. In addition to water present in such aqueoussolutions, additional water in quantities up to about 20 wt % isfrequently added as desired to bring the total water content of thecompositions to the range of between about 30 and 80 wt %.

Coalescing agents used in the invention are those conventional for usewith water based inks and are generally high boiling solventsincorporated in the composition to aid in film formation. It has beenfound that ink compositions of the invention are especially effective inprinting designs on vinyl plastic substrates when Butyl Cellosolve isutilized as at least a portion of the coalescing agent required by theinvention. In preferred embodiments of the invention the total amount ofcoalescing agent used is between about 5 and about 15 wt % of the inkcomposition and in a more preferred embodiment of the invention ButylCellosolve is present in amounts between about 5 and about 15 wt % ofthe ink composition. The presence of the Butyl Cellosolve coalescingagent tends to reduce the mottle effect more than the use of othercoalescing agents; however, once the desired amount of Butyl Cellosolveis present in the preferred embodiments of the invention, it is possibleto utilize additional amounts of other coalescing agents. The use ofcoalescing agents in amounts in excess of 15 wt % based on the totalcomposition, while not harmful, is not usually beneficial. In fact, formost applications it has been found that the use of coalescing agents inexcess of about 10 wt % of the ink composition generally addscomparatively little to the beneficial effects obtained by the use ofabout 5 to about 10 wt % of such coalescing agent. In addition to theespecially desirable Butyl Cellosolve coalescing agent, additionalcoalescing agents suitable for use in the invention include for instancepropyleneglycol, glycerine, hexaylene glycol, diethylene glycolmonoethyl ether, ethylene glycol, Butyl Cellosolve acetate, etc.

Surfactants suitable for use in the ink compositions of the inventioninclude any of the conventional surfactants for use in water based inkssuch as the water miscible organic solvents described in the abovementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,811. Trimethylnonyl polyethylene glycolether (TMN) is however, a preferred surfactant for use in the inventionsince it's use appears to give less undesirable mottle effect than otherconventional surfactants, even those which are relatively closelyrelated chemically. As mentioned above, surfactant is used in thecompositions of the invention in amounts between about 1 and about 5 wt% of the total composition.

Pigment is present in compositions of the invention in amounts generallyranging between about 10 and about 50 wt % based on solids in thecomposition. Suitable pigments include generally any of those consideredsuitable for use in water based inks such as the pigments described inthe above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,811. Pigments are frequentlyapplied in the form of aqueous solutions as described above and maycontain additional conventional ingredients such as small amounts ofsurfactants (frequently on the order of 1 or 2 wt %), glycol (frequentlypresent in amounts between about 5 and about 15 wt % of the pigmentsolution), wetting agents, etc.

In addition to the essential components of the composition of theinvention mentioned above, additional ingredients conventionally used inwater based inks may be used. These include for instance conventionalthickeners, defoamers, alcohols, biocides etc. such as those describedin the above mentioned U.S. Patent. Such additional materials aregenerally present in relatively small amounts. For instance thickeners,when used, are conventionally present in amounts between about 0.5 and 3lbs dry thickener per 100 gallons of ink composition while deformers orbiocides are generally present in amounts between about 5 and about 10lbs per 100 gallons of ink composition. Other ingredients when presentare usually present in amounts less than about 5 wt % of thecomposition.

The process of the invention involves the use of the ink composition ofthe invention to print a decorative design on the surface of layer ofgelled or fused vinyl plastic. While a wide variety of vinyl plasticsubstrates are suitable for this purpose, the invention is particularlyuseful in the printing of designs on PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastisolor organosol layers of sheet vinyl flooring material. These substratesare where the most difficulty has been encountered previously in usingwater based inks. Conventional water based inks, when used on such vinylsubstrates, tend to lack good adhesion and present an undesirablemottled or veiny appearance. By using the compositions of the presentinvention, it is possible to print designs satisfactorly on suchsubstrates.

Substrates on which designs are printed in accordance with the inventionmay be any gelled or fused vinyl plastic but are preferably gelledlayers of PVC plastisol or organosol. Suitable compositions for suchvinyl plastic substrates include any of the compositions normally usedin the manufacture of sheet vinyl flooring material and include forinstance the vinyl materials described in more detail in U.S. Pat. No.3,293,094 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In the practice of the process of the invention the composition of theinvention may be applied to the substrate in any conventional mannersuch as by the use of conventional rotogravure techniques, etc.

Example

A water based ink composition according to the invention was preparedwith the following formulation:

    ______________________________________                                        Ingredient              Weight %                                              ______________________________________                                        Vinyl latex*            24.3                                                  Acrylic latex**         6.4                                                   Total water             44.5                                                  TMN (6 mols ethylene oxide)                                                                           1.7                                                   Butyl Cellosolve        2.9                                                   Propylene glycol        2.9                                                   biocide                 0.6                                                   Defoamer                0.6                                                   thickener               1.7                                                   Pigment***              14.5                                                  ______________________________________                                         *B.F. Goodrich Company's Geon 576 (vinyl chloride and acrylic                 preplasticized with 35% dioctylphthalate, used 25 56% solids in aqueous       solution)                                                                     **Rohm and Haas company's Rhoplex Ac-25 (46-47% acrylic solids in aqueous     solution)                                                                     ***Daniel Black WE-2350 (36% aqueous solution included surfactant, 6%         glycol and traces of wetting agent)                                      

The above water base ink composition was used to print a decorativedesign on a gelled layer of PVC plastisol during production of a sheetof vinyl flooring material. Following application of the printed design,the design was overlaid with a conventional PVC plastisol wear layer andthe entire flooring sheet was heated to fuse the plastisol layers. Theresulting design as seen through the clear wear layer displayedremarkably fine mottle, i.e. lack of undesirable mottle effect, andexhibited good adhesion to both the underlying plastisol layer and thewear layer.

While the invention has been described with respect to preferredembodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes or modifications may be made without departing fromthe spirit or scope of the invention.

What I claim is:
 1. A method for printing a decorative design on thesurface of a layer of gelled or fused vinyl plastic which comprisesprinting a design on such a layer with a water-based ink having acomposition comprising:(a) a blend of acrylic latex selected from thegroup consisting of polymers and copolymers of acrylic acid, methacrylicacid, methyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, ethylmethacrylate and vinyl latex selected from the group consisting ofpolymers and copolymers of vinyl acetate and vinyl chloride, such latexblend containing between about 20% and about 40% acrylic latex based onsuch blend; (b) at least about 5 wt % based upon said latex blend ofcoalescing agent selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycolmonobutylether, propylene glycol, glycerine, hexylene glycol, diethyleneglycol monoethyl ether, ethylene glycol and ethylene glycol monobutylether acetate; (c) between about 30 and about 80 wt % water based ontotal ink composition; (d) between about 1 and about 5 wt % surfactantbased on total ink composition; and (e) between about 10 and about 50 wt% pigment based on solids in the ink composition.
 2. A method accordingto claim 1 wherein the surfactant is trimethylnonyl polyethylene glycolether which is soluble in the ink composition.
 3. A method according toclaim 1 wherein the coalescing agent is present in amounts between about5 and about 15 wt % based on the latex blend.
 4. A method according toclaim 3 wherein the coalescing agent comprises ethylene glycol monobutylether.
 5. A method according to claim 4 wherein the coalescing agentalso includes propylene glycol.
 6. A method according to claim 1 whereinthe surfactant comprises trimethylnonyl polyethylene glycol ethersoluble in the ink composition and the coalescing agent comprises amixture of ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and propylene glycol and ispresent in amounts between about 5 and about 15 wt % based on latexblend.
 7. A method according to claim 1 in which the layer on which thedesign is printed is a layer of fused polyvinyl chloride plastisol ororganosol.